These are one of those bike parts that you are unlikely to find in your cycle local shop, and you'd probably be the butt of the day's wrench jokes if you asked for them. (Heck, most of your bike technicians probably have no idea what they are.) They are certainly a device of yesteryear, but would be revolutionary for today's road cyclists. They simply mount off your brake caliper bolt and sit close enough to your tire that they knock embedded glass away before it has a chance to push deeper through the tire. And at a whopping 16 grams, I think you should install them instead of changing a flat tire in the Texas sun. Not to mention, your set of $140 Vittoria 320TPI Open Corsa tires will thank you.
These tire savers or "flint catchers" were much more popular during the days of long brake caliper bolts with exposed nuts on the back of the fork and seat stay bridge. Nowadays, it's rare to see that style of brake bolt on a quality bike, but there is a work around. Check out Sheldon Brown's "Sheldon Fender Nuts" which also allows a fender-mount on frames & forks with recessed brake nuts.
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ReplyDeleteOpened my eBay package today. These little things are so cool. I hope they work as cool as they look. Anyway, thanks for pointing them out. It was great to see you all if only for a few minutes.
~Chris
Have you installed them yet? Check out this write up and especially the comments. A lot of retro-grouches swear by them.
ReplyDeletehttp://janheine.wordpress.com/2012/06/05/preventing-flat-tires-one-year-of-tire-wipers/
I need them now. The tumble weed thorns here go through my kevlar tires. Had them on my ten speed decades ago,and can't recall any flats.
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